Did the Tampa Bay Lightning Panic?

There are fourteen teams that unfortunately did not make into the playoffs. Although some came close, others felt their team needed to be improved a bit more. That is what the Tampa Bay Lightning did. A day after their season finale with a 3-1 win over the Florida Panthers in Sunrise, the Tampa Bay Lightning fired coach Rick Tocchet and dismissed general manager Brian Lawton after missing the playoffs for a third straight season. According to the Associated Press, it is the club's third coaching change in the last two years. They have been under .500 since Rick Tocchet took over for Barry Melrose last season. So, did the Lightning panic? Did they jump too early to make a coaching change, especially a day after the regular season ended? No, they did not. They knew they had to make a change in order to improve their club. They don't know if Vincent Lecavalier is going to come back to the team next season. Luckily, they'll have Steven Stamkos with that team in case Lecavalier leaves, and a good coach is needed to help Stamkos become another version of Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin. As for the general manager, I'm guessing the rest of management didn't feel he did enough for the Lightning and they needed a change there to order to get a reasonable guy who can help this club improve and get back to the Stanley Cup championship, which they won in 2004. A good coach and a well-placed general manager will be the key in leading this Lightning club forward for next year. It's going to take a while to get a new coach and a new GM in place. The GM job should be hired within the next month or so, while the coaching position might take a bit of time to get. It will all make sense in the next couple of months what Tampa Bay Lightning management will decide to do with these two positions.